Led by Robbie Avila, Saint Louis basketball hopes to make a tournament run and recapture the success of the early 2010s.
The tradition continues! It’s another year of our countdown of the top 100 preseason teams in college basketball until the start of the season. Each day, we will reveal the next team until we reach the team slotted at number one. Up next: Saint Louis basketball.
Saint Louis was widely regarded as the winner of last offseason when they hired Josh Schertz to replace Travis Ford. With him, he brought several elite players, but most notably Robbie Avila aka Cream Abdul Jabbar. It was an up-and-down season, starting 6-6, then going 5-1 to start conference play. They’d end up dropping to 7-6 before finishing 11-7 in conference play and losing in the second round.
Overall, not a season to be ashamed of, but they’re hungry for more. They lose Jimmerson and Swope, both huge losses, but return Avila, the leading rebounder and shot blocker Kalu Anya. They’re paired with several key transfers, including Trey Green from Xavier and Dion Brown from Boston College.
Josh Schertz always takes a leap in his second year in a program. At Lincoln Memorial, he went 14-14 in season one before improving to 20-9 in year 2. At Indiana State, He turned an 11-20 season to 23-13. 19-15 is a much better place to start, and Saint Louis basketball is optimistic that they can return to early 2010s form, when they won 26+ games and made tournament runs three seasons in a row.
Head coach: Josh Schertz (2nd season at Saint Louis, 18th season overall)
2024-25 record: 19-15 (11-7)
2025 postseason finish: Lost in first round of NIT
Notable departures:
- Gibson Jimmerson (17.7 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 0.9 APG)
- Isaiah Swope (17.1 PPG, 4.2 APG, 3.2 RPG)
- Kobe Johnson (6.2 PPG, 3.3 RPG, 1.8 APG)
Notable non-conference games:
- vs. Grand Canyon (Nov. 15)
- vs. Santa Clara (Nov. 27)
- vs. San Francisco (Dec. 13)
Projected Rotation
PG: Trey Green (6-0, 160, RS-So.)
2024-2025 stats: 5.0 PPG, 1.0 APG, 0.9 RPG, 9 GP (Xavier)
SG: Dion Brown (6-3, 180, Sr.)
2024-2025 stats: 7.5 PPG, 3.9 RPG, 1.5 APG, 0.6 SPG, 44.4 FG%, 35.0 3P% (Boston College)
SF: Quentin Jones (6-5, 180, Jr.)
2024-2025 stats: 16.6 PPG, 4.8 RPG, 3.5 APG, 1.3 SPG, 0.9 BPG, 45.5 FG%, 35.5 3P%, 76.6 FT% (Northern Illinois)
PF: Kalu Anya (6-8, 225, Sr.)
2024-2025 stats: 6.5 PPG, 7.5 RPG, 2.5 APG, 1.1 SPG, 1.0 BPG, 60.5 FG%
C: Robbie Avila (6-10, 240, Sr.)
2024-2025 stats: 17.3 PPG, 6.9 RPG, 4.0 APG, 1.2 SPG, 0.8 BPG, 49.2 FG%, 35.9 3P%, 75.0 FT%
6: Brady Dunlap (6-7, 200, RS-So.)
2024-2025 stats: 5.7 PPG, 2.2 RPG, 0.7 APG, 0.4 SPG, 46.5 FG%, 37.5 3P%, 83.3 FT% (St. John’s)
7: Paul Otieno (6-9, 230, Sr.)
2024-2025 stats: 13.0 PPG, 8.6 RPG, 1.1 APG, 2.1 BPG, 0.7 SPG, 58.5 FG%, 37.5 3P%, 81.1 FT% (Quinnipiac)
8: Kellen Thames (6-6, 210, RS-Jr.)
2024-2025 stats: 6.2 PPG, 3.4 RPG, 0.6 APG, 0.7 SPG, 51.9 FG%
9. Amari McCottry (6-6, 205, So.)
2024-2025 stats: 4.6 PPG, 3.1 RPG, 1.0 APG, 1.0 SPG, 53.0 FG%, 38.5 3P%
10. Ishan Sharma (6-5, 190, So.)
2024-2025 stats: 3.4 PPG, 1.3 RPG, 0.8 APG, 93.8 FT% (Virginia)
Saint Louis Basketball team MVP: Robbie Avila
A true no-brainer here, Avila is not only the team MVP, but arguably a top 20 player in the sport. Avila averaged 17.3 a game last year, and did it on 49.2% shooting. What makes him so dangerous at 6-10 is his passing, though. He does a great job of finding the open man, and double-teaming him basically guarantees a bucket because he’s going to find the open man.
Avila can score down low with his size, but can also shoot from deep. Defensively, he isn’t the most dominant because he lacks a bit of athleticism, but he isn’t a liability by any means. Saint Louis will play through Avila next year, and he’ll give his team the best chance for success with his playmaking ability.
Saint Louis Basketball make-or-break player: Quentin Jones
Quentin Jones comes to Saint Louis from Northern Illinois, looking to make the jump to stardom. We saw a significant jump from freshman year to sophomore year, going from 9.7 PPG to 16.6 PPG on good shooting splits. He also increased his playmaking ability, increasing his assists per game by 2.5x. With Swope and Jimmerson gone, Schertz and Saint Louis are looking for a scoring replacement, and Jones is the obvious choice.
The big worry is the teams he’s played for. In his two seasons at Cal Poly and Northern Illinois, his teams went 10-53 and 2-38 in conference play. You can’t put all the blame on one player, but it’s hard to ignore that stat. If anyone can change that, though, it’s Schertz, and as long as he doesn’t share the same tendencies, this could be a great match for both Jones and Saint Louis basketball.
Key analytic: Offensive and defensive rebounds per game
Saint Louis’ rebounding statistics are not only interesting but quite frankly hilarious. When it comes to offensive rebounding, they are one of the worst teams in the country, averaging 6.3 a game, 339th in the country. On the defensive side, it’s a complete reversal, finishing with 25.5 a game, 21st in the country. Saint Louis rarely gets second opportunities, but rarely gives them up as well. A perfect balance.
It would be nice to see a little more rebounding on the offensive glass for Saint Louis, and adding Paul Otieno, who averaged 3.9 a game last year for Quinnipiac, sixth most in the country, will certainly help. Pair him with Anya, and this can be a much-improved team on the boards. In a competitive Atlantic 10 conference, those few extra possessions a game can be the difference between a win and a loss on many given nights.
Saint Louis Basketball 2025-26 projections
Projected conference finish: 2nd in the A10
Projected postseason ceiling: NCAA Tournament Round of 64 Exit